Growing older hasn’t improved Dr. Robert Wallace’s memory, and he’s doing something about it.
For the last two months, the resident of Alexandria’s Goodwin House Incorporated has participated in StrongerMemory, a memory care program designed to combat memory loss in seniors. Goodwin House started the program in January 2020, with a handful of daily activities that encourage working memory and triggering brain activity in the prefrontal cortex.
Alexandria Police have been dispatched to Alexandria City Public Schools three times to respond to students fighting since school started on August 24.
The most recent incident occurred on Tuesday, September 14, just before 1 p.m. at the Alexandria City High School Minnie Howard campus at 3801 West Braddock Road. The student victim was not transported to the hospital.
Before the pandemic, I ran a Reddit forum that brought people together for local happy hours. It became a great outlet for an in-person social life: you could get out, get to know people nearby, and have a familiar group to spend time with. I enjoyed being the person who helped make that happen.
Getting people together became harder after the pandemic. Friends moved away, had kids, or settled into different routines, and organizing a night out took more effort. I still wanted that camaraderie, but having people to invite didn’t necessarily mean we could get something on the calendar.
I’m in my late 30s and live in Old Town. About a year ago, I joined Choros, a local membership community that helps guys build friendships through small-group activities. Since then, I’ve been to close to 50 hangouts, and it’s given me a regular group of guys to do things with around Alexandria and beyond.
I host board game nights and help host a monthly happy hour at the Commodore in Old Town. I’ve done escape rooms on King Street, trivia, food festivals in Del Ray, movie discussions, and Dungeons & Dragons (which can be especially tricky to get going as an adult with a busy schedule). Having that variety means I can find something that fits my mood and schedule, and there are usually familiar faces when I get there.
One of my favorite things, though, is getting on my bike, picking a destination, and making a day of it. Through Choros, I’ve found a consistent crew to ride with almost every month. That’s the kind of thing I wanted more of: people who enjoy the same stuff and make time to get out and do it together.
I still like hosting and bringing people together. What makes Choros useful is having a community to draw from, so every plan doesn’t depend on the same few friends being available. Other guys suggest and host things too, which gives me plenty of opportunities to join something without organizing it myself.
Over time, seeing the same guys at different activities builds familiarity. You have conversations to pick back up and another reason to make plans together. That’s how it’s become a circle of friends for me.
If you’re in Alexandria, check out Choros and come to one of our monthly happy hours at the Commodore. I’d be happy to meet a few more neighbors, whether you’re into board games, bike rides, or just getting out for a drink. There’s plenty happening here, along with activities throughout the rest of the D.C. area.
Ready to buy a restaurant or salon in Alexandria?
The latest listings on BizBuySell show all kinds of businesses for sale in and around Alexandria. Many are restaurants, which have been heavily impacted by the pandemic.
At its October general membership meeting, the NAACP Alexandria Branch 7043 Nominating Committee presented its slate for the 2027–2028 term and named John Hopkins-Gillispie as its nominee for Branch President.
Hopkins-Gillispie is a life member of the branch. He has chaired the Freedom Fund Dinner for the past two years, and this year’s dinner raised more than $40,000 for the branch. He serves on the Legal Redress Committee, reviewing discrimination complaints brought to the branch. He has provided input on issues from the Alexandria Police Department’s hate crimes policy to the proposed Edsall Road data center. He also represents the branch as co-chair of the host committee for the 2027 Virginia State Conference convention.
In a community update yesterday (Thursday), ACPS staff said they’re starting to make progress on plans to vaccinate students in-school.
Currently vaccination is only available for children ages 12 and above. Julie Crawford, chief of Student Services and Equity, said at a meeting yesterday that the teenager category has been one of the most thoroughly vaccinated age groups in the city. Crawford said ACPS is getting ready to offer in-school vaccination as a prelude for when vaccination is allowed for the younger age group.
StoryWorx: Workhouse's First Ever FREE Book Festival
Sat, Nov 14 | 11 a.m.–5 p.m. | Lorton, VA
Meet bestselling authors Angie Kim (Happiness Falls), 4× NFL Pro Bowler Ken Harvey (first-ever dramatic reading), and Emmy-winning WUSA9 anchor Wisdom Martin, plus Marcie Atkins, Omar Abed, Ellen R.B. Smith, and more for panels, signings, poetry, and workshops. Kids' Corner features author readings, crafts, and storytime. Browse the artisan market, catch a live Upstart Crow podcast, and explore the Workhouse galleries and artist studios—all part of Second Saturday.
Friday Night Lights debut at Alexandria High School stadium — “A ribbon cutting for the newly renovated Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 ahead of the Titans’ first home game at 7 p.m. Speakers will include Superintendent Dr. Gregory Hutchings Jr., School Board Chair Meagan Alderton, Mayor Justin Wilson, and more. Gates will not open to the public until 6 p.m.” [Patch]
City Council extends State of Emergency to January 2022 — The Alexandria City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to extend the state of emergency to January 31, 2022. [ALXnow]
(Updated at 5:50 p.m.) An afternoon storm has brought flooding and shut down some roads and services in Alexandria.
City bus service DASH announced via Twitter that all bus service was briefly suspended due to severe weather conditions, but service resumed roughly 30 minutes later.
Late last week, a third grader at Jefferson-Houston School was exhibiting COVID symptoms. By Sunday her mother received positive test results, and that evening she sent word to the school that her daughter was infected with the virus.
The next day was a bit of a scramble at the school, as the parents of all of the students in her daughter’s class were called to pick up their children and told that the kids needed to quarantine for two weeks.
The wellness-related businesses in Del Ray are bottling their creative energies into a new blog.
Every Wednesday morning, the Wellness District Blog will publish two new posts to help folks navigate through the fog of stressful times. It officially launched at a glitzy outdoor party on Wednesday night in Del Ray.
The Eisenhower Partnership is planning an Oktoberfest celebration early next month to help raise funding for the Partnership’s Engin and Agnès Artemel Urban Planning Scholarship.
The scholarship is named for former Director of Planning Engin Artemel, who helped shape waterfront development in Alexandria and died last, and his wife Agnès Artemel, a realtor and president of Artemel & Associates Inc. The scholarship helps students from Alexandria City Public Schools and planning to major in a realty or urban planning related studies.
Revolutionary Fitness, the strength and longevity training studio for people over 50 at 215 N. Payne St., is opening 5 spots in its members-only year-end challenge.
Every year, the stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s knocks people off track. Workouts get skipped, schedules fill up, and the plan becomes “I’ll start in January.”
